Welcome to Africa

The African diaspora, estimated at nearly 170-million people with ties to the continent living and working in the US and Europe, send over US$60-billion home every year, money that builds local African economies and reduces dependence on foreign aid.

Self-taught and using patched-up, homemade and reverse engineered instruments, the Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste is doing something extraordinary. The only all-black orchestra in the world – and the only orchestra at all in central Africa – it is revelling in the beauty of classical music.

African agriculture is about to flourish, write Olusegun Obasanjo and Bob Geldof. This is one of the most fertile regions on earth, with 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land.

Bicycles made of bamboo? Berenice Dapaah, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, tells how her small bamboo-bike manufacturing company has created jobs and improved mobility for young people – women in particular – in the poor and remote regions of Ghana.

At 13, with no parents to fend for her or her siblings, Best Ayiorwoth dropped out of school to look after her family. Today a 22-year-old award-winning entrepreneur, Ayiorwoth's story is a remarkable one of inspiration, courage and perseverance.

Journalists record history and ensure transparency, a task that is rewarded through the SADC Media Awards. The awards seek the good stories about the region. They are driven by the desire to promote unity in the region and strengthen the economic, political and social ties that already exist.

The first comprehensive list to measure the liveability of the world's cities from the perspectives, expectations and demands of the youth population – as voted for by the youth themselves – has rated Joburg among the top world cities, beating rivals across Africa.

Fifteen years ago, after seven years working in London, Angel Jones felt the tug of home when she heard Nelson Mandela speak in Trafalgar Square. She came back to South Africa and, in 2003, set up Homecoming Revolution as a non-profit organisation to encourage expats to return, and smooth their trip home.

"Poor countries are doomed to stay poor." That's a myth Bill Gates passionately debunks. The founder of Microsoft and, today, co-founder – with his wife Melinda – of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has released a letter that explains why pessimism about the future of poor countries holds back their development.

With #MiningIndaba trending on Twitter, the first full day of the 20th Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town focused on transparency in the industry, and on the scramble for Africa's resources – the continent accounts for 30% of mining resources in the world, much of it untapped.